By Julia K. Hughes
While Egypt supplies only 1 percent of U.S. apparel imports (by value) — and doesn’t come close to the $29.5 billion of apparel we import from China or the $9 billion from Vietnam — brands and retailers of all sizes say they are inclined to utilize the QIZ because the program has a clear and simple Rule of Origin and no expiration date. Even when there were shipment delays due to the political situation, the QIZ provided more certainty than, say, the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) or the Nicaragua Tariff Preference Level, which had expiration dates. (In fact, the Nicaragua TPL has already expired with no action to renew it yet, and AGOA is expiring in less than seven months.)
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